


I Roam The City In A Shopping Cart

by MixterGlacia



Series: Champagne, Cocaine, Gasoline [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Bonding, Conditioning, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Panic Attacks, Pre-Relationship, Sex Slavery, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 23:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10729611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MixterGlacia/pseuds/MixterGlacia
Summary: Charon wonders about the runaway slave that now holds his contract. He needs to know more.





	I Roam The City In A Shopping Cart

When the man walked past Charon, he’d expected to see a slaver following his wake.The collar was a dead giveaway, not to mention the painfully thin frame. Ahzrukhal did order him to keep an eye on everyone that came in, so he was bound to notice things like this. Especially when an owner didn’t breeze in behind him.

 

Ahzrukhal noticed too. “Hey, smoothskin, where’s your master? I don’t hide your kind. Not for free at least.” 

 

“Ain’t got one.” The man smirks, his voice strong and proud. Most slaves had weak, broken voices from being ordered into silence. (Or from screaming.) Before Ahzrukhal could open his mouth to respond, the human had turned to look at Charon, giving the ghoul in question a good look at the broken control mechanism on his collar. There was something he couldn’t place in the man’s expression.

 

“See something you like, pretty boy?” Ahzrukhal had to be the center of attention, as per usual. If it wasn’t about him, he’d get huffy and try to fix that. “I see you making eyes at Charon. He’s quite a catch, yeah?”

 

The newcomer nods, not bothering to look back at Ahzrukhal.

 

“Wanna see a trick?” Charon knows where this is going. “Charon, put our lovely guest on your shoulders.”

 

He easily hoists the small man up. Things like this made him feel like a circus act.

 

“Neat, huh?” Ahzrukhal has a nasty grin on his face, thinking he’s being impressive. “Does anything I tell him, he’s one hell of a loyal mutt.” His eyes light up for a moment, gesturing a bit. “You can even hit him if you want, Char’ let him sock you-”

 

“Fuck you, I’m not hitting a man who can’t fight back!” The stranger tenses with every word out of Ahzrukhal’s mouth, his hands resting on Charon’s head.

 

Ahzrukhal just shrugs, chuckling. “Aw, you’re no fun. Char’ you can put him down now.”

 

As he did, Charon got the feeling that shit was about to go down. Ahzrukhal must have felt it too because he tuts before saying, “Don’t look at me like that, smoothskin. Don’t get any funny ideas either. He ain’t just for show, get outta line and he’ll shoot you before you reach the counter.”

 

“Oh. I see.” 

 

Scratch feeling, Charon  _ knows  _ shit’s going down tonight. He can see it in the way the man fists his hands into the ridiculous flowy pants he’s wearing.

 

When he strolls up to the counter, he’s staring Ahzrukhal down. “How much.”

 

“Beer’s-” Ahzrukhal can’t reem off prices before the man bangs a fist on the bar, cutting him off.

 

“I’m not asking about  _ booze _ , you asshole, I want to know how much his-” The smoothskin struggles for a split second before spitting out “-contract is.” like it’s poison on his tongue.

 

Ahzrukhal barks out a laugh. “You can’t fucking afford it, pretty boy!”

 

“ _ Try me. _ ” he demands, voice hard, fingers tight on the counter.

 

When Ahzrukhal realizes he’s being serious and gives a price, he balks when the human starts pulling out measured bags of caps and doubles it. This does nothing except make the process take a little longer. He finishes, and holds out his hand while the bartender sputters. 

 

Charon almost expects to be ordered to take out the smoothie so Ahzrukhal can steal the abundance of caps he’s carrying on him. Instead, he feels the mood shift as his contract changes hands. The human turns to face him, jerking a thumb over his shoulder.

 

“Unfinished business?”

 

He nods.

 

“Have fun.”

 

It’s not like he was going to ask for permission to gun down his former owner, but it felt much more satisfying with his endorsement. After the smoke quite literally clears from the room, Charon looks to his new boss.

 

“Better, big guy?” He says with a lopsided grin.

 

Again he nods.

 

“Good, ‘cause I don’t plan on ordering you to do anything you don’t want. Name’s-” he pauses, making sure there’s no one within earshot. “Name’s Kevin Gray.”

 

It’s one Charon recognizes. “Birchgrove?”

 

“Damn it, word’s seriously gotten this far?”

 

Charon shrugs, “J Starr’s been tracking a wayward comet of his, word gets around the Mall fast.”

 

“He can track me all he damn well likes, I’m out and he’s never gonna catch me. I go by KG in public, though. Ready to head out?” The man says as he retrieves his caps from the counter.

 

“Yes” Charon replies. This would be interesting.

* * *

  
  


KG was without a doubt, the tiniest employer to ever hold his contract. Barely reaching 5’ on a good day. Admittedly, having a runaway slave at the helm was...honestly it was refreshing. The man seemed to pick up on his well hidden reactions faster than he could realize he’d done anything in the first place. 

 

It had been months that they’d been traveling together. Months of quiet understanding from a rowdy smoothskin. It was fucking with his “Don’t get attached to employers” rule. They traveled far and wide. It made sense. KG was on the run after all. They were more than used to each other. They spent many nights back to back, unable to find a safe place to crash. They shared meals, even when the supplies ran low, he insisted that Charon ate too. 

 

It was easy to get along with him. Charon was surprised, Normally he disliked flamboyant employers. But when it got down to brass tacks, KG knew what he was doing. He held his own in a fight, better than many of his former employers. He wasn’t good with a gun, but he know how to take anything that wasn’t nailed down and turn it into a weapon.

 

So when the man asked to help him shave his hair, and dye it, he complied. His fingers were blue for a week. Seeing the man grinning and twirling made it better though. His nimble frame dancing circles through Underworld was an image that stuck with him.

 

They’d gotten into a fight with a huge pack of ferals that day and were in desperate need of a bath. By the time they found a tiny bedsit with one, it was long into the night. The woman behind the counter glanced at them suspiciously. 

 

“We’ve only got enough water in the tank for one more bath.” she drawls, scarred eyebrow arching judgmentally.

 

KG rolls his eyes, “That’s fine. Where’s the tub?”

 

She hands the key to Charon. It was pretty normal for folks outside of Underworld to assume he was the one calling the shots. He took it, and didn’t bother masking his contempt for the woman.

 

When the shack door clicked open, he was more than prepared to just wait outside.

 

“It’s a big tub. We can share.”

 

“Excuse me?” he questions, unable to hold his tongue.

 

“We’re both walking health hazards, there’s enough room for us to share. But it’ll be unusable if we take turns.  _ And _ -” KG continues before Charon can cut in. “No, you can’t just wait, you’ll be drawing deathclaws by morning. C’mon, lock the door behind you.”

 

Charon had learned by now that he wasn’t meant to take such things as literal order as he had with past contract holders. When he had done this in the past, it made the man extremely uncomfortable. It was the obvious choice, though. So he went in, thumbing the lock shut behind himself.

 

They maneuver around each other easily, Charon the only one to hesitate before disrobing. A question had been bothering him lately, and as he pulled at the straps of his armor, he felt it was time to ask it.

 

“Boss, can I ask you something?”

 

“You always can, Char’.” KG hummed as he drew the bath as hot as it would go, fingers testing the water.

 

“Why’d you take my contract?”

 

The reply is so matter of fact that he almost misses the meaning of it. “Because conditioning recognizes conditioning.”

 

Charon’s face must give him away, because KG gives him a look before elaborating.

 

“I was part of the sex trade. They have to ‘train’ you to do plenty of things. Like not ripping the dick off the first man that shoves it down your throat-” the man continues as he eases into the water. “The tone of voice to use if they want you to be vocal, how to take it up the ass, how to make people want to buy you for the night just by walking into the room...lots of things like that. If you don’t want to, or you do it wrong, well…” he trails off, turning to shut the tap off, giving a clear view of the countless scars scattered across his back. “You know how it is.”

 

“Though-” KG adds on, “I’m sure yours was much worse than mine…”

 

“That doesn’t invalidate your trauma, boss.”

 

KG blinks up at him, struck by this, watching as Charon finally settles in the bath as well. “Most would say it does.”

 

“Most folks don’t have context.” The moment is interrupted as the water overflows, splattering on the cold floorboards. Charon stares at the collar and thin necklace (his former owner had a habit of using these for symbolic purposes. They were easy to break so it showed how “well behaved” his slaves were.) strung about his neck. The ghoul’s hand twitches. “Might get better if we dealt with those collars.”

 

It was like a mini-nuke went off. The human practically launched backwards, ass sliding over the rim of the tub, causing him to topple over and land with a wet slap. Charon immediately moves to assist, head throbbing from (inadvertently) causing pain of any sort.

 

“No! No, nono, no!” KG shouts, clutching at his chest voice strained fearfully. His eyes had this wild panic in them, searching for an escape route. Seeing him afraid felt alien to the ghoul.

 

“You said it was deactivated, it can’t blow up anymore?” He offers carefully, trying to help KG to his feet, only for the man to jerk away from him.

 

“ _ Yes _ it’s deactivated,  _ no _ I can’t take it off!”

 

Charon reaches out, fingertips barely ghosting over the metal, “I can do it.”

 

“Charon, don’t you  **_dare_ ** touch it!” he shouts before freezing.

 

KG  _ never _ gave him orders. Nothing beyond directing him in battles. He’d made it clear that the concept sickened him. Judging by his face, it still did.

 

“Ch-Charon, wait I’m sorry.” The human was shaking, his voice unsteady. Charon’s skin was crawling.

 

The ghoul shakes his head. “I overstepped my boundaries.” he rattles off the old lines without stumbling. The words leave a rotten taste in his mouth. “My actions, while inexcusable will no-” Charon’s throat seizes when he dares to look at KG. Tears were welling up in those brown eyes. Fuck. He forces himself to keep going. “-will not happen again. If desired, acceptable punishm-”

 

“C-Charon y-”

 

“-ents include: Ordering silence, verbal reprimands, minor and/or indirect physical punishment, or-” the final part sticks to his tongue like broken glass. He can’t look at the smoothskin again. “Or choosing to break the contract. You-”

 

There’s a hand on his arm but he has to finish the speech.

 

“You can chose to sell it, trade it, auction it, or break it with extreme physical violence.”

 

It feels like his  _ bones  _ are aching. Of all the ways he’d ended a contract, this would be the most idiotic. Damn it all, why did this have to happen? It was karma, he thinks. Of course he’d get fucked over when he actually got a good owner. Fuck. He didn’t want to leave this time. He wanted to keep KG safe. Shame and fear tore at him. He was stupid for being so forward with his actions. Fuck.  _ Fuck.  _ **_Fuck._ ** __  
  


“-on! CHARON!” Startles him out of his spiraling thoughts. He looks to KG. “Listen to me!”

 

The ghoul nods slightly, bracing himself.

 

“I’m not going to punish you.” The hands gripping Charon’s arm shake. “Your actions are not just excusable, they’re entirely  _ understandable _ .” KG stresses, eyes flicking around, trying to read his bodyguard’s face. “You’re not the first one to offer me that...I’m sorry it’s just-” he swallows “...the most painful lessons stay with you the longest.”

 

Charon suddenly understood it clearly now. Gods he was thick sometimes. KG had literally just said he’d been through a form of conditioning. His trainer must have had enough foresight to not trust the collars with no backup in place. It’s easier to find a runaway if they couldn’t take them off, even if they were broken. He’d triggered an ingrained reaction by not only suggesting removal, he went so far as to touch one of them. 

 

“It was still wrong of me.” he says firmly. “Punishment is well within your rights.”

 

“You’re making it sound like you  _ want _ to be punished.”

 

Charon is still, jaw clenched tightly.

 

“...do you want the contract broken?”

 

“ **_No._ ** ” he flinches, head throbbing before he adds, “I mean- my wants are irrelevant. It is up to the contract holder.”

 

“The only reason you are still bound to say that to me is because I can’t work out how to free you from it.” The words hang heavy in the air.

 

Charon remains quiet, watching as emotions flit over KG’s face.

 

“One day, I will. One day, you will have the _ right _ to decide where you go and who you go with. Until then, remember this.” he pauses.

 

“There is nothing you have done, or will do, to punish.” his voice is hard. “We’re both going to have these sorts of things happen. We’ll need to support each other to the best of our abilities. The whole world is against us here. I need you to believe me when I say that I vow to make this right. To free us both...okay?”

 

“...okay.”

* * *

  
  


_ “News time, children! Now, I know I mentioned that ol’ Three Dog here found a new pal. That little guy I’ve been all vague about- you know the one. That’s ‘cause he’s got some mean motherfuckers after him. So that means that if lil’ ol’ me wants to talk about him (and you know I do) I gotta set this cat up with a name to use. He’s been doing some seriously good shit to fight the good fight you all need to hear about. I had a short “chat” with his traveling buddy, who must also remain anonymous. He let me in on a couple of ideas. Sooo, let me go ahead and blow your minds with a story about The Vow, and how he plans on dismantling Paradise Falls.” _

**Author's Note:**

> Let Charon be happy 2K17


End file.
